The Bike

Ah the bike.  Where to start?  Perhaps I will start with the fact that I didn't have sneakers to run to the bike transition area after I finished the swim.  This was annoying & made me lose so much time.  It was my own fault, I was given some bad info & I should have paid better attention, but I didn't.  Learning curve.

By the time I had gotten out of the water & on to the bike probably a few hundred people had passed me.  I couldn't run, my feet would have been torn to shreds from the pavement & gravel, so I just sucked it up & walked.  As I was heading out for the bike portion I see Andy Potts, probably one of the best, if not the best triathlete in the world heading back in to go out for his run.  Can you say humbling?  I mean this guy just finished an 18 mile bike ride in the time it took me to change out of my wetsuit & get to the bike transition area.  Not really a big deal though.

As I headed out wondering what the hills of San Francisco would be like, I felt ok.  I was wet & slimy, but feeling good.  That didn't last too long.  I have to say, I probably could have used some more bike training, but Good Lord there are some humongous hills in California.  It was a tough ride & I was doing ok, it made me feel a bit better to see others struggling along with me, but not so good to see another biker crash on part of the windier part of the course.  Parts of the bike & an ambulance were right in the middle of the street.  Gulp.  Please please please let me stay on the bike.  I have a fear of broken collar bones & missing teeth.  As I made my way out to the Great Highway along the Pacific Ocean I came down this ridiculously huge hill.  I was grabbing the brakes as hard as I could.  It was scary & then I had another awful thought, I am going to have to come back up this hill.  GREAT.

I was doing ok at this point, keeping up with a few people & getting to the turn around point.  Then, as I was headed up a decent sized hill, & trying to change gears, my bike chain falls off.  I was about ready to call it quits at this point.  I have no idea why either because it had just fallen off, it hadn't broken.  Now I'm off the bike, staring intently at my chain.  I am reluctant to touch it, why you ask?  Well, it's dirty & I don't like being dirty.  But then I had to laugh because here I am, almost 2 hours into the race, sweaty, wet & covered in algae from the bay & I am afraid to touch a greasy bike chain.  Duh.  After 5 minutes & trying to find something besides my clothing to wipe my hands on, I opt for my hair & I was back in action.  What?  A little bike chain grease is good for the hair, right?  Better than my new running pants.

At this point, I am starting to think about the run, wondering what it will be like, how long 8 miles will take me, when I reach the dreaded hill.  About 10 people were also on this hill at this point & not a single one was on the bike.  When in Rome.....& I am sad to say I walked my bike up that hill.  It was impossible to stay on the bike for me, so I made the best of it.  After this hill, I knew I only had about 5 miles left to go, I was starting to see people on the running course & I knew I was almost back to the transition area.

There weren't many major mishaps after this as far as the bike was concerned, but I was a bit disappointed in myself at this point because I definitely had not trained for such huge hills.  As I pulled back in & racked up my bike, I grabbed a quick drink & was off & running!  Kinda.  :)